A weekend mailing campaign by a powerful San Jose city employee union is calling at least five council members “hypocrites” for supporting Mayor Chuck Reed’s efforts to balance the budget by cutting their pay and benefits.

The mailer from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees incorrectly alleges the council members have not reduced their own compensation packages. It also tells residents to contact the mayor and their council member to urge them to restore “vital and essential neighborhood programs.”

The mass mailings arrived in advance of the council’s meeting Tuesday, when it is expected to vote on Reed’s June budget proposals for the next fiscal year, which includes 10 percent cuts to both pay and benefits for all city workers. The vote will be finalized on June 21.

AFSCME representatives could not be reached for comment.

But breaking ranks with AFSCME, other city employee unions on Sunday said they disagree with the letter.

“The people we represent do not want to be lumped in with this,” said Tom Saggau, a lobbyist for unions representing the city’s firefighters, architects and engineers, midlevel managers and maintenance supervisors. He said all four groups are distancing themselves from the mailers sent by AFSCME, which represents city librarians, planners, code enforcers and administrative assistants.

In news releases, the presidents of the firefighters’ union and three other unions, called the AFSCME mailer “a distraction and a disservice to our hardworking members of our respective bargaining units that recognize the need for sensible and legal pension reform. “… We implore the leadership “… to stop these destructive tactics and work with all stakeholders to create a workable solution.”

The two-page AFSCME mailer was sent to residents in at least five council districts, those of Rose Herrera, Sam Liccardo, Madison Nguyen, Nancy Pyle and Don Rocha, according to Saggau and some of the council members.

“I’m really disappointed that when I’m fighting to save services and jobs and protect pensions that (this union) is sending out mailers with distortion and lies,” Herrera said Sunday. She said the residents who contacted her said the mailers “were awful” and that they support her.

Vice Mayor Nguyen echoed the sentiment on Sunday, adding that some residents had been approached by people urging them to speak against the budget before the council’s vote on Tuesday. She said the residents “told me that they don’t believe what they (AFSCME) are saying” and would not attend Tuesday’s meeting.

Along with Reed, the five council members and Councilmen Pete Constant and Pierluigi Oliverio voted May 31 to impose the cuts on four unions that had resisted the across-the-board concession requests six other city unions had accepted in order to reduce layoffs as city officials try to close a $115 million budget deficit. Two of the resisting unions are affiliated with AFSCME.

The San Jose Police Officers Association is still voting on whether to accept the cuts, without which 156 more officers would be laid off. But the deficit is so large that about 122 officers would be laid off even with the police concessions, along with some 370 other city workers.

Only Councilmen Xavier Campos, Kansen Chu and Ash Kalra voted against the cuts on May 31.

In addition to labeling them hypocrites, the mailers say the targeted council members’ vote would give the mayor “limitless powers to close libraries, make deep salary cuts and lay off city employees that deliver direct services to our neighborhoods without any input from our community.”

In fact, San Jose residents have had multiple opportunities to address the council publicly during meetings about the budget cuts and have another opportunity to do so at 7 p.m. Monday at City Hall.

The mailer also accuses the mayor and City Council of not making similar sacrifices as city employees. But just last week, the mayor and council voted publicly to agree to accept 10 percent pay cuts and reduce their monthly car allowances, both of which were recommended by the council’s salary-setting commission.

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